Ricotta gnocchi is the easy way to make homemade gnocchi from scratch!
Today a creamy mushroom sauce.
And yes, ricotta gnocchi is legit Italian!
Tumbling gnocchi!
And likewise, with ricotta being a neutral flavoured cheese, you cant taste it much in ricotta gnocchi.
But the big differenceis texture and speed of making.
Ricotta gnocchi is, as mentioned above, softer and lighter than potato gnocchi.
And as for making time 20 minutes vs 1 hour minimum!
PS Just to be clear, this recipe is not dissing potato gnocchi.
But I cant remember the last time I made them.
Whereas ricotta gnocchi is a regular!
Not the creamy, smooth spreadable bang out of ricotta (usually labelled spreadable ricotta 0r similar.)
That is too wet and loose, which will make the dough too sticky.
Tumbling gnocchi!
Paesanella, which is widely available in NSW, is my favourite mainstream brand.
In Victoria, look for Thats Amore.
Got the wrong ricotta?
Cooked gnocchi ready to be sauced
Then measure out 250g/8 oz and proceed with the recipe.
Flour just plain / all-purpose flour.
Parmesan This adds flavour as well as adding a bit of structure to the dough.
Think of it ascheese gluethat is holding the gnocchi together!
Egg + egg yolk For a little richness and also to hold the gnocchi together.
Mushrooms Just regular white mushrooms, or Swiss Brown/cremini if you prefer.
Cream Thickened cream / heavy cream is, as the name suggests, thicker!
So the sauce will thicken faster.
You could use water or stock, but wine adds more flavour into the sauce.
We cook out the alcohol so it doesnt taste winey at all.
But any dry white wine will work fine here.
Just avoid anything too sweet.
Also,feel free to skip the wineif you cant consume alcohol.
The sauce will still be delicious!
Chicken stock / broth The liquid for the sauce.
Feel free to use vegetable stock instead, if you want to keep it vegetarian.
I always use low-sodium so I can control the level of salt in dishes.
Butter For cooking the onion and mushrooms.
Feel free to substitute with olive oil (but butter makes it tastier!).
Onion and garlic Adds extra flavour into the sauce.
You could skip the onion, but really recommend not skipping the garlic!
(PS you’re free to use eschallots/French onions calledshallotsin the States instead of onion).
HOW TO MAKE RICOTTA GNOCCHI
Mixthe ricotta, parmesan, egg, salt and pepper until combined.
use a wooden spoon or firm-ish rubber spatula.
Smear the ricotta up the side of the bowl if needed, to help cream it.
Then add 3/4 cup of flour to begin with and mix.
The dough will be too sticky to knead.
Cutit into 8 equal wedges.
(I swear, this is the part I find hardest in this whole recipe.
Rollthe logs into 25 cm / 10 lengths that are 1.25cm / 1/2 thick.
And thats the gnocchi, done!
But cover with cling wrap if you intend to faff around for a while.
And if youre making them to cook later that day, refrigerate them.
Freezing gnocchi At this point, they can also be frozen.
Freeze in single layers (you’re free to use baking paper to separate layers).
Then tumble into an airtight container and freeze until required.
Cook from frozen, it will just take an extra minute or so.
And they come out just like freshly made.
How handy is that!
Next, lets get onto cooking them!
MAKE THE Creamy mushroom sauce
Heads up:the sauce will seem a little thin.
But once you add the gnocchi it will thicken quickly from the starch in the gnocchi.
Cookthe onion and garlic first with the thyme sprigs.
Then cook the mushrooms until they soften.
Deglazethe pan with the wine (see under the ingredients section for more information about this step).
Simmer rapidly for 2 minutes or until the wine is mostly evaporated.
This will cook out most of the alcohol and all the winey flavour.
After simmering This is what it looks like after it has been simmered for 5 minutes.
As noted above, dont worry if it seems thin, it will thicken once we add the gnocchi!
Boil gnocchi Bring a large pot of water to the boil with a couple of teaspoons of salt.
Then tumble the gnocchi in.
Transferthe gnocchi straight into the sauce, excess water drips and all!
Gently tossthe gnocchi in the sauce for 1 to 2 minutes on a medium low stove.
Proof of thickened saucecoating gnocchi voila!
And we are done.
Serve it up immediately with a sprinkle of parmesan!
Important: serve it straight away!
Like all pasta, gnocchi is at its best the moment it is cooked.
Every minute it is sitting around, the quality erodes.
Harsh but true fact.
Hot, freshly cooked gnocchi is soft and pillowy and the sauce is creamy and slick.
As they cool, they become firmer and chewier and the sauce thickens and firms up.
It can be resurrected to a degree in the microwave, but its never like when freshly made!
I know they were relatively low effort to make.
(or God) Nagi x
ADD THESE TO COMPLETE YOUR MEAL!
Blinded How dare the sun be so glowy and warm?
Prevent screen from sleeping
Help This woman wont let me go.
Photos like this make me smile so much.
There was a timejust a couple of months agoI never thought Id see him like this again!
Admittedly, it is only short bursts of energy.
But its a massive improvement!
I am so, so grateful and feel so fortunate that I have more time with him.
Every day is precious.
